Maybe Georgia and Notre Dame can keep playing every other year because they have some great games when they do.

Once again, it was the Bulldogs who came out on top. They needed a second-half comeback and a fourth-quarter defensive stop to do so. Georgia got three Rodrigo Blankenship field goals and a nifty sideline catch by Lawrence Cager for a fourth-quarter touchdown, then D.J. Daniel knocked away a final Notre Dame pass with 45 seconds remaining to hang on for a 23-17 victory Saturday night before a record crowd of 93,246 at Sanford Stadium.

J.R. Reed’s interception of an Ian Book pass with Notre Dame on the move in the fourth quarter helped preserve the victory and make Blankenship’s 43-yard field goal with 6:54 remaining the difference for the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame didn’t go quietly. Book hit Chase Claypool on a four-yard TD pass with 3:12 to play to complete a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive. The Irish didn’t attempt an onside kick as the Bulldogs were expecting, but squibbed a kick instead and dropped D’Andre Swift inside the 25.

The No. 3 Bulldogs improve to 4-0 with the victory and 7-10 in top-10 matchups. Conversely, the No. 7 Fighting Irish fall to 1-18 in games against top-5 teams this century.

This one was a competitive throughout, just like in 2017 in the previous regular-season matchup between these teams in South Bend, Ind. The Bulldogs won that one, 20-19. They’re now 3-0 all time against Notre Dame, having also won a 1981 Sugar Bowl matchup that clinched the national championship for Georgia.

The Fighting Irish fall to 2-1, but likely will be favored in all their remaining games. They play Virginia next week. The Bulldogs are off.

Georgia got a huge second half from quarterback Jake Fromm and Swift. After being held to 33 yards in the first half, Swift broke loose for 65 yards, most of it coming in a critical stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters. Included in that stretch was Swift hurdling a Notre Dame defender on a 10-yard run. Swift finished with 98 yards and scored a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Fromm came alive throwing the ball in the fourth quarter. He was 3 for 4 for 66 yards on what was effectively the game-winning drive. The one incompletion was an on-target pass in the end zone to George Pickens that looked like pass interference on Notre Dame. But Fromm simply called the same play to the left side for Cager, and he snatched the boundary throw just in time to get one foot down.

Fromm was 20-of-26 passing for 187 yards and a score. Book was 29-of-47 passing for 275 yards and two TDs for the Irish, but also threw two interceptions.

Trailing 10-7 after the first half, Georgia got its first break in the five minutes into the third quarter when Divaad Wilson picked off a pass and returned it 11 yards to the Notre Dame 22, fumbling the ball along the way. The Bulldogs retained possession but, after a nice gain by Swift and a pass in the flat, guard Justin Shaffer was called for unnecessary roughness, negating the play and sending them back 15 yards.

Georgia would get back to the 30 and Demetris Robertson looked to have been interfered with in the end zone by Notre Dame’s Shaun Crawford. But no flags were thrown and Blankenship tied the score with a 40-yard field goal to tie the game at 10-10 with 8:31 remaining in the third quarter.

Blankenship came through for the Bulldogs at the end of their next possession as well. Georgia had flown down the field and was second-and-5 at the Notre Dame 20 when Fromm shifted out to receiver and Swift took the shotgun snap on a designed run. The Irish weren’t fooled and dropped Swift for a yard gain. Then Simmons couldn’t hang onto Fromm’s pass deep in the back of the end zone on third-down, leaving Blankenship to convert a 31-yard field goal this time. That gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 13-10, with 4:21 remaining in the third quarter.

The first quarter featured only six first downs and 115 yards between the two teams, but it was Georgia that blinked first. Or, specifically, Tyler Simmons.

The senior wideout and punt return was late in throwing up a hand to signal fair catch and muffed a punt return inside the 10. The ball bounced directly to Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool, who was closing in fast on the play, and the Irish took over at the Georgia 8.

The Bulldogs were extremely resistant, forcing a fourth-and-goal even after be called for a pass-interference on second down. But on that final play, Book threw a pass that was not intended for 6-6 tight end Cole Kmet, but that Kmet jumped high and tipped to himself for a touchdown. That staked the Irish to a 7-0 lead with 10:39 remaining in the second quarter.

That seemed to wake up the Georgia offense. With Fromm converting two third-down passes for 8 and 14 yards, and Fromm gaining six-yards on a rare quarterback keeper, Swift sliced into the end zone on a three-yard run to cap a 13-play drive of 8:12 to tie the score at 7.

Taking over with just 2:27 left in the half, the Irish came flying back down the field, paced by Kmet’s 28-yard reception. They’d reach the Georgia 9 before chess match broke out between Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly. Smart called a timeout when the Irish lined up for a 27-yard field goal on third down with 9 seconds remaining. Then Notre Dame sent its offense back out on the field, which prompted another UGA timeout. Finally, Book’s third-down pass for Claypool was incomplete with 5 seconds remaining.

This time Notre Dame kicked the field goal and took a 10-7 lead into the halftime locker room.

INDIANA 38, UCONN 3

Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey understands the art of the comeback.

On Saturday, he proved he still has it.

Ramsey played virtually flawlessly Saturday, completing all but four passes, throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns to help the Hoosiers shrug off last week’s blowout loss with a 38-3 rout over Connecticut.

“It was kind of a point of emphasis all week at practice to be crisp and sharp and take what they give us,” he said. “It was a good day for sure.”

To Ramsey, who started 16 games in 2017 and 2018, this not about vindication.

It was about living up to the challenge coach Tom Allen issued during practice following last week’s 51-10 loss to No. 6 Ohio State. And with injured starter Michael Penix Jr. missing his second straight game, Ramsey took full advantage of his second chance.

He made it look easy, too, after tight end Peyton Hendershot lost a fumble on the third play from scrimmage. UConn (1-2) converted the turnover into a 41-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Ramsey took control on the next series, leading the Hoosiers to the go-ahead touchdown and never gave the Huskies another chance. He sealed UConn’s 18th consecutive loss against a Football Bowl Subdivision foe and a crucial three-game nonconference sweep for Indiana (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten).

“Peyton was extremely accurate and that’s what he does really, really well,” Allen said after Ramsey went 23 of 27. “Obviously, Peyton is extremely talented and is a great leader and led us to another win. He’s done that many, many times. The execution was very impressive.”

Ramsey had plenty of help.

Running back Stevie Scott finally found his groove, rushing 21 times for a season-high 97 yards and closed out the scoring with a 6-yard TD run. Indiana’s defense was impenetrable and linebacker Cam Jones opened the second-half scoring by returning an interception 44 yards for a touchdown.

But it was Ramsey who got the Hoosiers righted by closing out their second possession with a 12-yard TD pass to Whop Philyor to make it 7-3 and a 4-yard TD pass to Hendershot to make it 17-3 late in the first half.

Not much changed in the second half.

When Huskies quarterback Jeff Zergiotis tried to avoid a sack by flipping the ball away left-handed, Jones snatched it out of the air and returned it 44 yards to give the Hoosiers a 24-3 lead.

“It was a freshman on the road for the first time, in a Big Ten place,” coach Randy Edsall said. “He got rattled a little bit early and never could get out of the funk that he got in there early in the first quarter.”

Ramsey added a 16-yard TD pass to Nick Westbrook for a 31-3 lead.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE 34, BALL STATE 23

Thayer Thomas and North Carolina State’s special teams came up with big enough plays to offset the Wolfpack’s sputtering second-half offense Saturday night.

Thomas had a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter while Max Fisher blocked a fourth-quarter punt to set up another score, helping the Wolfpack beat Ball State 34-23.

Malik Dunlap recovered Fisher’s block, putting the Wolfpack at the Cardinals’ 7-yard line. Matthew McKay scored on a keeper three plays later at the 8:41 mark to help the Wolfpack stay in control.

“I feel like the special teams the second half really won us the game,” Thomas said.

He wouldn’t find much argument from coach Dave Doeren or his teammates, either. Not with how little N.C. State’s offense managed in the final 30 minutes.

N.C. State completed only two passes and had 104 total yards after halftime. The good news, at least, was the Wolfpack (3-1) had pushed ahead for good in the second quarter to lead 20-7 at the break, then got Thomas’ run to the end zone to go up 20.

There wasn’t a lot to highlight beyond that, other than Fisher’s block.

“They definitely changed the momentum of the game,” McKay said of the special teams. “We just had to capitalize and go score” after the blocked punt.

McKay also ran for a second-quarter TD for N.C. State (3-1), which turned away the Cardinals’ last best push on Chris Ingram’s end-zone interception with 3:43 left.

Justin Hall and Caleb Huntley ran for scores for Ball State (1-3), which entered with one of the nation’s top passing attacks behind Drew Plitt. Plitt threw for 333 yards but failed to connect for a score for the first time this year.

“We had a couple of opportunities there that we needed to finish the deal, and we didn’t get that done,” Ball State coach Mike Neu said, “The effort is fantastic by our guys, the heart — all that stuff is good. Each guy knows that we just have a few plays that obviously we need to make in order to have a chance to change that outcome.”